Ferruccio Furlanetto

The Italian bass Ferruccio Furlanetto is one of the most sought-after singers in the world, above all, as an interpreter of Verdi and Mozart, and of some Russian and French repertoire. The critics praise his vast range, thundering vocal power, and excellent acting ability.

He has collaborated with some leading orchestras and conductors such as Herbert von Karajan, Carlo Maria Giulini, Sir Georg Solti, Leonard Bernstein, Lorin Maazel, Claudio Abbado, Bernard Haitink, Daniel Barenboim, Georges Prкtre, James Levine, Semyon Bychkov, Daniele Gatti, Valery Gergiev, Riccardo Muti, Mariss Jansons, and Vladimir Jurowski. He performs in concerts and recitals at the leading world’s concert halls, in the repertory ranging from Verdi’s Requiem to Russian songs. He has made numerous recordings of opera on CD and DVD, and his performances were broadcasted internationally over the radio and television. He feels equally at home at many opera houses such as La Scala Milan, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Vienna State Opera, the Opera National de Paris, and the New York Metropolitan Opera as well in Rome, Turin, Florence, Bologna, Palermo, Buenos Aires, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Moscow. At the Mariinsky Theatre in St.Petersburg, he has become the first Italian bass to appear in the title role of Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov.

Ferruccio Furlanetto started this season at the Salzburg Summer Festival singing Oroveso in Norma with Edita Gruberova, Joyce Di Donato and Marcello Giordano in the cast and Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death with the Concertgebouw Orchestra under Mariss Jansons; continued at the Vienna State Opera as Padre Guardiano in a revival of La Forza Del Destino, then he performed his highly acclaimed Don Quichotte at the Teatro Massimo Palermo. Undoubtedly the highlight of the season was two great bass Verdi parts – King Philip in Don Carlo and Fiesco in Simon Boccanegra at the Metropolitan Opera, performances received highest critical acclaim, were broadcast internationally, and Don Carlo was shown as part of HD live series in the cinemas worldwide and earned terrific reviews in the press. The challenging break came at the second half of the season with revival of South Pacific in Volksoper and recording Schubert’s Winterrise with Igor Tchetuev for PRESTIGE CLASSICS VIENNA. The concert debut with this lied circle will take place during Stars of White Nights festival at St.Petersburg. The rest of spring-summer engagements include Ernani at Teatro Comunale Bologna, Don Quichotte at Mariinsky, concert with excepts from Boris Godunov with Berlin Philharmonic and Nabucco at Perlada Festival at Spain. Season will be finished in July 24 at the BBC PROMs with Requiem Verdi under baton of Semyon Bychkov.

Next season will be released under the mark by one of Ferruccio Furlanetto’s signature parts – the role of Boris Godunov. With great success he sang it in Rome, Florence, Milan, San Diego, St.Petersburg, and Vienna and during the next season will be heard with it at the Lyric Opera Chicago, the Vienna State Opera, and the Teatro Massimo Palermo. The season 2011/12 engagements also include Méphistophélès in Gounod’s Faust and Silva in Verdi’s Ernani at the Metropolitan Opera, the title role in Verdi’s Attila at the San Francisco Opera and Massenet’s Don Quichotte at the Teatro Real Madrid.

Singer’s recent DVD releases includes Simon Boccanegra from ROH released by EMI and named Disk of the year by Gramophon and two Don Carlo highly successful performances: La Scala 2008 season opening (Hardy) and from the Royal Opera House (EMI). "Certainly, Ferruccio Furlanetto's Filippo on its own would suffice to merit the release of the DVDs. He captures brilliantly both the tyrannical control and the heartbreaking disappointment of this monarch. Furlanetto's voice is an intrinsically emotional instrument in the hands of a master; Filippo's 'Ella giammai m'amт' is nothing short of perfection, and elsewhere Furlanetto is riveting as well". Opera News. 2010 was also marked by the release of Russian Lieder CD (Prestige Classics Vienna). The program was born with Alexis Weissenberg. Today he is appearing with a young gifted Ukrainian pianist Igor Tchetuev, most recently at La Scala and at the Mariinsky.

Ferruccio Furlanetto is Honorary Ambassador to the United Nations as well as Kammersanger and Honorary Member of the Vienna State Opera.